The Hidden Science of Crystals: How to Use Them for Ego Dissolution & Awakening

Introduction

Crystals are formed deep within the Earth, shaped by intense pressure and heat into stunning minerals. While many are familiar with how crystals can encourage relaxation and peace, fewer people know that, if misused, crystals can actually create stress, harm, and disruption in your life. These potent stones have the power to not only foster well-being but also challenge the ego and aid in the often-difficult journey of self-realisation. Working with crystals has even been known to support healing of physical ailments by powerfully influencing the underlying energetic system and addressing the emotional root causes that contribute to their root origins. In this article, you'll discover the science behind how crystals interact with the energy field, how to use them properly for healing, and how to tell if a crystal is meant to work with you, or if it’s trying to move away from you. 

As an energy healer and certified crystal healing practitioner, I’ve been working with crystals for many years, both in my personal practice and during healing sessions with clients. My journey with crystals took a profound turn when I encountered moldavite, a powerful tektite known for rapidly raising vibration, often in intense and uncomfortable ways. I initially bought a tiny piece on a whim, sceptical of its effects. But I was quickly humbled by this little green stone. Not long after, my life was completely shaken up. I went through a deeply challenging and painful experience, but on the other side of it, I emerged transformed. That experience was my first undeniable proof of just how powerful crystals can be, and from that moment on, I was hooked. 

Since then, my understanding and experience with crystals have grown immensely. Now, I want to share everything I’ve discovered first-hand, including deeper insights I haven't seen discussed elsewhere. This isn’t just another guide on crystal properties, it’s a deep dive into the science behind how and why they create such powerful shifts, and how you can harness their energy effectively.

Crystals Beyond the Physical: Their Deeper Spiritual and Energetic Nature

At the molecular level, crystals possess a highly organised, orderly arrangement of atoms, forming a structure that allows energy to flow through them. This enables crystals to absorb and emit energy. Due to their piezoelectric properties, where pressure can generate an electrical charge, crystals are commonly used in electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, and other technologies we rely on daily. Crystals are often regarded as physical manifestations of sacred geometry, with each one having a unique combination of elements and structures, which causes them to resonate at distinct frequencies. The frequencies they emit are stable and high-vibrational, meaning they release energy at a rapid rate, with many cycles per second, making them powerful tools for energy healing. If you're interested in exploring the science behind energy healing, I highly recommend reading my post titled 'The Science Behind Energy Healing: Resonance, Frequency and Transformation', it will also provide valuable insights that will help you better understand the concepts discussed in this article.

Crystal Resonance: How Energy Alignment Leads to Healing and Self-Realisation

You might be wondering how these small stones can have such a profound impact on our lives. The key lies in their stable frequencies, which interact with our ever-flowing energetic field. This field encompasses a vast spectrum of energy and includes chakras, energy centres that channel life-force energy into our system, each resonating with specific frequencies, physical organs, and mental attributes. When we experience negative thoughts, feelings, or emotions, they can disrupt the natural flow of energy within our system, leading to a lower vibration. Conversely, experiencing positivity can open the chakras, allowing more life force energy to flow freely and raising the system’s overall vibration.

When our energy field interacts with a crystal’s frequency, areas of similar vibration begin to entrain and synchronise with its stable emission through a process called harmonic resonance. I've already covered the science behind this in another post (linked here), but in essence, the energy field naturally shifts and rises to match the vibration of what it encounters. By working with crystals correctly, lower vibrational areas in the body can gradually align with the crystal’s high-vibrational energy, restoring harmony and improving the flow of life-force energy throughout the system.

Because the mind and body are deeply interconnected, any shift in the energetic system also influences our perception and mindset. If you remain present and aware, you may begin to notice how certain thought patterns and behaviours you held before working with the crystal were inauthentic, often rooted in underlying fears. This process challenges the ego and provides an opportunity to uncover subconscious aspects of yourself. When these fears and conditioned patterns are acknowledged, integrated, and healed, your energy and mindset naturally shift, allowing you to embody a more aligned and authentic state—one that reflects the higher vibration the crystal introduced. Over time, as you continue working with a crystal, your energy field entrains more deeply with its frequency, supporting progressive self-realisation and expansion of consciousness.

How to Choose the Right Crystal: Trusting Intuition Over Logic

Now that you understand how crystals can create profound shifts in your energy and consciousness, you might be wondering—how do you know which one to work with?

The key is to trust your intuition rather than relying solely on the commonly listed properties of a crystal. Intuition is the language of your soul, it often appears as a gut feeling, a deep inner knowing, or even a subtle sense of discomfort that doesn’t seem logical. One way I differentiate intuition from ego is that intuition often feels slightly uncomfortable, as if it doesn’t quite make sense. When working with crystals, this may manifest as an inexplicable pull toward one stone or an aversion to another, even if it looks beautiful or is associated with qualities you think you need. The more you learn to follow these subtle energetic nudges, without overanalysing them, the more open you become to receiving guidance in all aspects of life.

When selecting a crystal, I believe this process is influenced by a combination of factors:

✨ Your energy field naturally recognising the frequency it needs.

✨ Intuitive guidance from your higher self or spiritual guides.

✨ The consciousness of the crystal itself interacting with you.

I’ll dive deeper into that last point later in the post, but for now, trust that the right crystal will resonate with you in ways that go beyond logic.

If you choose a crystal solely based on its commonly listed properties, you may be projecting what you think you need rather than allowing your energy to be intuitively drawn to what will truly support you. This approach is often driven by the ego’s desire for a specific outcome rather than trusting the deeper wisdom of your energetic field. For example, when I was focused on healing and opening my heart chakra, I expected to resonate with rose quartz, a crystal well known for fostering self-love, compassion, and emotional healing. However, I felt an unexpected aversion to it. Even though it didn’t make logical sense, I chose to trust my intuition. Instead, I was inexplicably drawn to prehnite, a green crystal I had never heard of before. When I looked it up, I saw it was commonly associated with good fortune and luck, seemingly unrelated to heart healing. Yet, after working with it, I experienced a profound shift. I found myself releasing deeply repressed anger, and on the other side of that process, I felt more open-hearted and connected to the world and those around me than ever before. This experience reinforced the power of trusting intuitive guidance over rigidly following what a crystal is supposed to do.

If you're unsure whether a crystal is meant for you, here are a few signs that can help guide your decision. One method is using a pendulum when choosing between multiple crystals. Most crystal shops sell them, and you can often borrow one while browsing. Hold the pendulum over each crystal with the intention of receiving guidance. For me, a "yes" typically appears as a circular motion, while a "no" moves back and forth, but this response may vary for you. Another sign is if you keep dropping a crystal, this can indicate that it is energetically repelling you. Crystals carry their own frequencies, and if one isn’t aligned with what you need at the moment, it may subtly resist your energy. 

Interestingly, when a chakra is blocked, it tends to accept a wide range of frequencies, meaning you might be drawn to many different crystals at first. However, as the chakra opens and becomes more balanced, it gets more selective about which crystal it wants to work with. For example, when I was working on activating my heart chakra, I initially felt drawn to a variety of green stones, including aventurine, jade, emerald, and prehnite. Over time, I noticed that certain crystals no longer resonated with me, almost as if they were "done" with their work. One by one, they began to feel repelled by my energy until I was left working solely with prehnite, which seemed to support my process at a deeper level.

Working with Your Chosen Crystal the Right Way

Once you've chosen a crystal that resonates with you, the first step is to cleanse its energy. Crystals naturally absorb and store energy, but over time, they can become energetically depleted or clogged with stagnant energy. Cleansing clears any accumulated or negative energy, restoring the crystal to its natural, high-vibrational state. 

Here are several methods to cleanse a crystal:

• Running Water – Hold it under running water (avoid for water-sensitive crystals like selenite, malachite, and calcite).

• Smoke Cleansing (Smudging) – Pass the crystal through sage, palo santo, or incense smoke.

• Sound Healing – Use singing bowls, tuning forks, or chimes to clear the energy.

• Moonlight or Sunlight – Leave it under full moonlight overnight; limit sunlight for fade-prone crystals.

• Burying in Earth – Bury in soil for 24 hours to ground and reset its energy.

• Using Other Crystals – Place it on selenite, clear quartz, or amethyst for natural cleansing.

• Breath & Intention – Exhale forcefully over the crystal while visualising it being energetically cleared.

The frequency with which you need to cleanse your crystals depends on both the crystal itself and how you resonate with it. I recommend daily cleansing for black crystals, as they are highly absorbent, while lighter crystals typically require less frequent cleansing. Ultimately, it's something you may feel intuitively guided to do, without needing specific timeframes. Cleansing can be done in just a couple of minutes, such as running a water-safe crystal under warm water while setting the intention for its energy to be cleared. 

After cleansing, it’s time to charge your crystal. Charging replenishes its energy, helping it return to its natural, high-vibrational state.

Here are ways to charge your crystal:

• Sunlight – Place in morning sunlight for a few hours (avoid for fade-prone crystals like amethyst and rose quartz).

• Moonlight – Leave it under the full moon overnight for a gentle yet powerful recharge.

• Earth – Bury it in soil or place near a tree to absorb grounding energy.

• Selenite or Quartz – Rest the crystal on selenite or next to clear quartz for natural charging.

• Sound Frequencies – Use singing bowls, tuning forks, or chimes to infuse it with fresh energy.

• Visualisation & Intention – Hold the crystal, focus on your intention, and visualise it being filled with light.

After many years of working with crystals, I've come to realise that cleansing holds more significance for me than charging. Consider this: when you place a clear quartz crystal in front of light, it refracts and alters the light, often allowing you to see how the crystal channels and redirects the flow of energy. However, once the light is removed, the crystal no longer retains the frequency of that light energy. I believe that intention is the most crucial aspect when working with a crystal. By setting our intention and keeping the crystal close to our body, we continuously charge it through our energy field.

My next piece of advice for working with crystals is that size typically doesn't matter when using them for energy healing. Even a small, often inexpensive tumbled stone can create significant changes in your energetic field when used with intention. I recommend keeping the crystal close to your body, ideally near the chakra it’s associated with, such as wearing it as jewellery, keeping it in your pocket or bra, or even hiding crown chakra crystals in a scrunchie with a zip pocket. However, when it comes to changing the energy of a space, like your home, larger crystals can have a broader range, allowing their frequencies to affect a larger area.

To use crystals most effectively for energy healing, I recommend focusing on one intention at a time, such as working with crystals that are the same colour or resonate with a single chakra rather than multiple at once. Ideally, using just one crystal at a time is best. I often see people wearing various coloured crystals as jewellery, but more crystals don’t necessarily mean greater benefits.

Different crystal frequencies can interact in ways that may not always be beneficial. If combined incorrectly, their energies may:

• Cancel each other out, making them less effective than when used alone.

• Synchronise in a way that creates disharmony in your energy field.

• Amplify certain energies in a way that unintentionally strengthens negative subconscious patterns or challenging life situations.

To prevent this, I suggest working with one crystal at a time or, if using multiple, ensuring they align with the same intention and colour frequency. Always select them intuitively and pay close attention to any feelings of repulsion, which may indicate that certain combinations aren’t in alignment with your energy.

I also want to help you understand how to determine the optimal length of time to wear a particular crystal. Wearing a crystal for too short a period doesn’t allow your energy field enough time to entrain with its frequency, nor does it give you the opportunity to observe and integrate the different aspects of yourself that emerge through this process. Switching crystals daily offers fewer benefits than working with the same one consistently over several weeks or even months. By wearing a crystal for an extended period, you allow your energy to resonate more deeply with it while continually integrating the lessons it reveals.

However, there comes a point when continuing to wear the same crystal may no longer provide additional benefits. Once your energy has begun to adjust to its frequency, subconscious patterns will surface, giving you the opportunity to integrate them. The more you acknowledge and release these patterns, the deeper your energy's resonance with the crystal becomes. But over time, if certain patterns are deeply ingrained, they may become less noticeable, making it harder to consciously work through them.

To address this, I recommend taking a break from the crystal, and from any crystal altogether, to allow your energy to return to its natural, unaltered state. This reset helps you observe any shifts in your mental and emotional patterns after stopping use, revealing the subconscious aspects that may have gone unnoticed while wearing the crystal. By addressing and healing these underlying fears or blocks, you can return to working with the crystal from a renewed perspective, allowing for a deeper energetic resonance rather than remaining stagnant in the same frequency by using it continuously without a break.

The Consciousness of Crystals: Do They Have a Personality?

I want to share a more esoteric perspective with you. Since energy and consciousness are fundamentally the same, and crystals act as conduits of energy, I believe that crystals possess their own form of consciousness. Each type of crystal has a unique molecular structure and emits a distinct frequency, which gives it a specific energetic signature, or a unique "vibe".

In many ways, crystals seem to have personalities: some are vibrant and expressive, while others are subtle and quiet; some are resilient, while others are more particular about how they are used; some thrive when worn, while others prefer to remain in a fixed space; and certain crystal combinations harmonise well together, while others create discordant energies.

I’ve come to this understanding through direct experience. I often feel as though my crystals communicate with me, like how my larger pieces seem to "guide" me to where they want to be placed in my home, while the ones I wear seem to draw my attention when it’s time to use them or when I should take a break. These subtle energetic interactions have deepened my appreciation for the unique consciousness that each crystal holds.

Conclusion: Deepening Your Connection with Crystals

Crystals are far more than just beautiful stones, they are powerful energetic tools that can support healing, transformation, and personal growth when used with awareness and intention. By understanding their molecular structure, energy-emitting properties, and even their unique consciousness, you can work with them in a way that aligns with your own energy rather than simply following mainstream crystal practices.

Whether you’re selecting a crystal, cleansing and charging it, or wearing it for healing, the key is to develop an intuitive relationship with it. Pay attention to how it makes you feel, notice shifts in your energy and trust your inner guidance when deciding how long to work with it. More isn’t always better, being mindful of combinations, duration, and breaks will allow you to integrate the lessons crystals bring rather than unknowingly creating energetic stagnation.

Crystals are not just passive objects; they interact with you, reflect your subconscious patterns, and amplify energies in your field. When approached with awareness, they can become profound allies on your healing journey. By continuously deepening your understanding of them and yourself, you unlock their full potential, not just as tools, but as energetic companions guiding you toward greater alignment, balance, and self-discovery.